First Encounters
by InkHeart4112
Summary: The four times Zander ran in to the girl of his dreams, and the one time he finally got her name.


**A/N: **Hey, hey! I was going to post this one-shot in December for Zevie month, but I couldn't help it! We all know that Zander and Stevie met when he arrived at Brewster as the new kid, but what if they had some run-ins before that? Well, this is the one-shot to read if you want to find out how that would go! Molly_G

**I don't own How To Rock or any songs mentioned.**

[Zander]

_Downtown Cinderella_

After getting pass the bouncer, I walk into the club. My ears fill with pop music and my vision is blinded by the colorful lights hung up on the ceiling. I shield my eyes and walk through the crowd of dancing teens. When I see pink and green neon lights, I walk towards them and realize they're attached to a bar. I take a seat on one of the red spinning stools and turn to the bartender who was wearing a plain black shirt along with a golden name tag that read, "Kevin."

He walks up to me and introduces, "I've never seen you around before. I'm Kevin."

I shake his hand saying, "I'm Zander, new kid around here."

Kevin pulls his hand back and responds, "Nice to meet you, newbie. Welcome to Lights, the most popular club in Brewster. Can I get you anything?"

I cross my arms on the bar and joke, "Have any alcohol?"

Kevin laughs and replies, "Sorry, but it's an under age club. No alcohol, no ages 18 or older, no fun. How about a Coke?"

I nod. While he rushes over to the other end of the bar, I turn my stool around, prop my elbows onto the bar, and look around the place. On the stage at the right is some girl in a tight top and short skirt singing California Girls by Katy Perry. I roll my eyes at the guitarist who is making it very obvious that he's checking the chick out.

On the dance floor, it's the average club scene: Teens rubbing against each other, jumping up and down, calling what they're doing dancing. Even though the colorful flashing lights make everything harder to see, one thing catches my eye. When the lights flash off and the club becomes dark, I see a pair of aviator sunglasses. When the lights flash back on, I see that the sunglasses are being worn by a girl with tan skin and brown highlighted hair.

Behind me, Kevin states, "They call her the Downtown Cinderella."

I turn my stool back to him and question, "Why?"

He shrugs and explains, "Cinderella because she's gorgeous, and she always disappears whenever someone tries to find out who she is. Downtown because she's more street than any girl here. Instead of tube tops, short skirts, and high heels, she's rocking that."

I turn around to where he's pointing and take a good look at the girl. Her outfit consists of a black fedora hat, a maroon tank top, ripped tie-dye skinny jeans, black Converse high-tops, and of course her sunglasses. I look around her then realize that she's dancing by herself and that people are only dancing around her. When I look back at her sunglasses, I see that she's looking in my direction while still dancing. Cinderella smirks and waves.

I raise my eyebrows and ask, "Did she just wave at you?"

Kevin leans up to me and answers, "Yeah, I know her."

I turn my head to him and question, "You know the Downtown Cinderella?"

He laughs at my expression and responds, "She's one of my best friends. Who do you think gave her the nickname as Downtown Cindy?"

I nod my head and turn back to the girl. She runs her hand through her hair and points at me with her left index finger. Just to be sure, I point to my chest. She nods and gestures for me to come over to her.

"You better go, dude. As long as I've known Downtown Cindy, she's never called someone over to her."

I shrug, hop up, and walk over to her. It's a good thing that she's wearing her sunglasses because I wouldn't be able to make my way towards her in the dark if she didn't. Once I get closer to the girl, I notice her walking backwards and away from me. I chuckle at her game and just continue following her through the dance floor. Suddenly, all the lights in the club turn off. Judging from the fact that everyone continues dancing and singing, it must be a normal thing. I look around and realize that I've lost Downtown Cindy.

After spinning around two times, I see something silver and shiny through all the darkness. Figuring out that it's the aviator sunglasses, I walk toward them as they move further away. The flashing lights come back on, and I see that the girl is heading towards a normally-lit hall. She looks over her shoulder so I can see her sunglasses and smirks at me. Just as I step into the hall, the girl has already turned the corner to the next one. I jog up to the corner, but once I walk around it, I see a vacant hall. I walk down it, figuring the girl is playing a game of cat-and-mouse. As I'm halfway down the hall, I feel someone grab my arm and pull me into the small, hollowed out spot in the wall. I open my eyes and see a pair of aviator glasses looking at me. I look down and realize that I'm chest-to-chest with the Downtown Cinderella.

Not knowing what else to say, I greet, "Hi."

She smirks and responds, "Hey, there."

Being my ladies man self, I return her smirk and state, "You are probably the only person that wears sunglasses inside of a club."

Little Miss Secretive laughs and replies, "Let's just say I like to be mysterious. Instead of being one of those girls that overexpose themselves by showing so much skin, I keep my identity a secret to everyone except Kevin."

I lean closer to her face and say, "Guess that makes me your exception."

She laughs and bites her bottom lip while smiling. She takes off her hat, puts it on my head, leans over to my left ear, and whispers, "I guess it does."

Downtown Cindy pulls away and asks, "Is the hall empty?"

I hold up my finger, giving her a one moment sign, and step out of the hollowed spot. I walk further down the hall and see that it's still vacant. I nod and walk back to the spot, only to see that it's as empty as the halls. I look around, but the girl is long gone.

Wow, she really lives up to her title as Cinderella.

* * *

_Biker Boots_

I put on Downtown Cinderella's black Fedora hat that she gave me, slip on my Ray-Bans, and walk out of the café. I turn to my right and walk down the sidewalk, humming a random tune. When I reach the stop sign, I look across the street at a crowd of people with their backs facing me. I furrow my eyebrows, walk across the street, and walk up to the crowd. After squeezing through some people, I finally make my way to the front. Right in front of me, I see a girl sitting on the fountain with a black acoustic guitar in her lap. Her ripped skinny jeans, brown highlighted hair, and aviator glasses seem familiar. Aviator sunglasses...I widen my eyes.

Just to be sure, I lean over to some guy with shaggy blond hair beside me and ask, "Who's the girl?"

He shrugs and answers, "None of us really know because she's always wearing those sunglasses. She always wears those boots, though, whenever she comes to this fountain so everyone started calling her that. Biker Boots."

I nod and focus in on Biker Boots. She kept her eyes on the neck of her guitar as she strummed the chords to We Are Young by fun. and sang the lyrics. I smile at her amazing voice. When the girl looks up, she stares right at me through her sunglasses. I tilt Downtown Cinderella's hat at her, making her smile while biting her bottom lip before she turns back to her guitar. Out of nowhere, a strong wind hits the crowd, including me. I feel my hat fall off my head so I turn around, only to see that it's flying away. I groan and run after it. Ignoring the "looking both ways" thing, I run across the street while my hat slides down the sidewalk. Finally, I run up to it, pick it up, dust it off, and put it back on my head. When I turn around, I see that the crowd of people has cleared and that Biker Boots is gone. I groan kick the ground.

"Man, those combat boots are fast."

* * *

_Hazel Eyes_

Once we step into the ballroom, I ask my mom, "Do I have to wear this stupid mask?"

She answers, "Yes, you do. This is my new company and I really want to impress them, no matter how stupid their idea of a masquerade benefit is. Now, fix your mask."

I groan and straighten my black mask. My mom mumbles something about her boss before walking away. I roll my eyes and walk over to a table in the corner where a guy that looks my age is sitting.

I sit down in the chair next to him questioning, "Not the life of the party?"

He shakes his head and replies, "I'm only here because of my dad. What about you?"

I simply say, "Mom."

The guy nods, turns to me, and introduces, "I'm Nelson."

I shake his hand and tell him, "I'm Zander."

He pulls his hand away asking, "Are you new around here?"

I nod. "Is it that obvious?"

Nelson shrugs and states, "You still have that new guy smell."

I laugh and look at the dance floor where couples are doing some sort of tango where you get a new partner after every spin. My gaze falls to the floor since it's funny to see some people trip. Heels, heels, dress shoes, heels, biker boots, heels...Biker boots! I widen my eyes and look up at the body the biker boots lead to. Finally, a girl with a white strapless dress with little black flowers on the bottom, a red mask, and hazel eyes is the only thing I see. As she is spinning to her next partner, I see her wave towards my direction.

I furrow my eyebrows, turn to Nelson, and question, "Is it just me or did Hazel Eyes wave at you?"

He nods and explains, "She's one of my best friends."

"What's her name?"

Nelson laughs and responds, "I can't tell you. The whole point of a masquerade ball is to keep your identity a secret."

I scoff, "Well you told me your name."

He smirks and replies, "That's because you are not a potential love interest for me. Hazel Eyes over there? Maybe. Judging by the switching pattern the dance is going in, in the next spin, she won't have a partner. Why don't you go meet her yourself, Prince Charming?"

I laugh just as Hazel Eyes is spinning. Immediately, I run over to the dance floor and catch her once she stops.

I smirk and smoothly say, "Guess I'm your new partner."

She bites her bottom lip with a smirk and responds, "I guess you are."

After I spin her around, I look into her hazel eyes and tell her, "You know, you look just like this girl I met a few days ago."

Hazel Eyes raises her eyebrows. "Is that so?"

I laugh. "Yeah, you've got the same boots as her."

Her smirk widens before she orders, "Tell me about her."

I bite in my left cheek and reply, "She's drop dead gorgeous, even though I have never seen her eyes because she always wears aviators. Um, I've heard her sing once and she's amazing. Oh, and she's the only thing I've been able to think about since I laid my eyes on her."

Hazel Eyes smiles and responds, "Well, it seems like you really like this girl. By the way, nice hat."

Before I know it, she's spinning out of my arms. I widen my eyes as a new girl takes her spot. I look around the girl while dancing, but Hazel Eyes is completely off the dance floor. Not caring that she won't have a partner, I pull away from the girl and look around the ballroom. On the giant staircase, I see a pair of biker boots standing on the top step. The girl wearing them smiles at me before running out the door.

Just as I'm about to chase after her, Nelson comes up to me and questions, "Hey, how was meeting Hazel Eyes?"

I turn to him and state, "I just danced with Downtown Cinderella."

* * *

_Waitress_

Immediately after I walk into some smoothie shop called Danny Mango's, a high-pitched voice calls, "New boy! New boy, over here!"

I look over to the source of the annoying tone and see a girl waving her hand at me. I sigh and walk over to the table of three Barbie dolls. The one who called me patted the seat between her and a blonde. I awkwardly sit down.

The girl put her chin on her palm and greeted, "Hi, I'm Kacey."

I shift in my seat uncomfortably and respond, "Hi?"

The blonde on my right exclaims, "I'm Grace!"

I laugh at her and turn to the third girl. She batted her eyelashes unattractively and said, "Hi, I'm Molly."

I simply wave. The first girl, Kacey, put her hand on my left shoulder and says, "So, I hear you're new around here."

Trying to be nice, I joke, "Well if I'm not, you must be pretty embarrassed for calling me new boy."

All three of the girls burst out laughing. While Molly and Kacey stop, Grace just continues having a giggle fit.

Molly yells, "Grace!"

Immediately, Grace stops laughing, making me raise my eyebrows. Kacey opens her mouth to say something, but a girl, probably the waitress, interrupts her by coming over to the table while singing one of my favorite songs, You and I. I take a quick scan of her messily tied brown highlighted hair, blue beanie, ripped skinny jeans, and biker boots.

Kacey turns to the girl with a glare and shouts, "Loserberry, you interrupted me!"

The waitress stops singing, picks up the girls' smoothie cups, and replies, "Sorry, Perfy. I was just saving everyone the trouble of having to hear another word out of your perky little mouth."

I try to stifle my laugh but fail. Kacey widens her eyes at the girl and commands, "Just go."

The waitress rolls her eyes and walks away with her tray of empty cups. As she's passing Molly's chair, she suddenly trips and falls on the floor. I immediately stand up to see Molly with her left leg extended. Her and Kacey laugh deviously while Grace mouths a sorry to the girl. In unison, the three girls stand up, flip their hair, and walk out of Danny Mango's. Instead of following, I rush over to the waitress on the floor and kneel down in front of her.

I put the cups back on the tray asking, "Are you okay?"

Not even looking at me, she scoffs, "Why do you care? Go and continue being Kacey Simon's new puppy dog."

I pick up the tray and stand up saying, "I don't even know her. I'm serious, are you okay?"

The waitress snatches the tray out of my hands and walks back to the counter muttering, "It's not like it's the first time the Perfs have tripped me."

She walks behind the counter and starts putting the cups away. While she has her back turned to me, I look down at her boots and squint my eyes. Biker boots...The waitress turns around and raises her eyebrows.

"Like my boots?"

I shake my head and look up at her hazel eyes. "You were singing You and I by Ingrid Michaelson, right?"

She shrugs and nods. I continue, "I feel like I've heard your singing voice before...like I've seen your biker boots and hazel eyes somewhere. Have we met?"

She bites her bottom lip in a cute and familiar way.

"New boy!"

I turn around and see the three girls standing outside of the store. I roll my eyes and turn back to the waitress. When I look back at the counter, I see no one behind there.

I widen my eyes and moan, "Not again!"

* * *

_Friend_

As soon as I take my first steps in Brewster High School, I feel every pair of eyes in the hall land on me. I shake my head, hold onto one of the straps of my backpack with my right hand, and walk down the hall, ignoring every single gaze.

When I turn the corner to the next hall, I hear someone shout, "Zander!"

I turn my head to where the voice came from to see the bartender from Lights and the masquerade guy run over to me.

When they reach me, Kevin greets, "Hey, I didn't know you were going to this school."

I shrug and respond, "I didn't know you guys knew each other."

Nelson smiles brightly and exclaims, "Now you don't have to worry about not making friends on your first day! Come on, follow us!"

Without saying another word, both of the guys turn around and run down the hall. I sigh and chase after them. Finally, they stop in front of a door.

With his hand on the doorknob, Kevin asks, "Are you ready to see the coolest place ever?"

I nod. He opens the door and gestures for me to go in first. I walk in and look around to see a pretty cool and colorful looking room.

I drop my bag on the green couch questioning, "What is this place?"

Nelson answers, "It's just our little hangout. No one knows about it except us and our friend."

I turn around to see a keyboard, a drum set, a familiar black acoustic guitar, an ukulele, and a bass guitar. **(Fun fact: Lulu said it's pronounced uke not y-uke!)**

"Wow, this place is like a music shop."

Both of the guys laugh. Kevin explains, "I play drums, and Nelson plays keyboard. The rest of the instruments belong to our friend Stevie. You know her, right?"

I think for a second then shake my head. "Nope, don't know a Stevie."

Nelson puts his hand on my shoulder and replies, "Trust us, dude. You _know_ Stevie."

Kevin checks his watch and states, "Dude, we have to go to the video game store now if we want to get Furious Pigeons: Antarctica."

Both of them walk out while Nelson says, "Stevie always comes in here before school starts so she can keep you company."

When they shut the door behind them, my eyes immediately land on the ukulele laying on one of the amps. I pick it up, sit down on the couch, and start strumming it. After a few minutes, I hear the door to the room open.

A harsh girl's voice snaps, "How many times have I told you idiots to never touch my ukulele?"

I turn my head around and see a girl standing there, looking at me with raised eyebrows.

I set the ukulele on the table, stand up, and walk around the couch saying, "You must be..."

Once I stop in front of her, I widen my eyes and finish, "The waitress."

The girl, obviously Stevie, scoffs, "Gee, that's a good title."

I shake my head and respond, "The waitress has the same eyes as the girl from the masquerade ball, Hazel Eyes has the same boots as the girl from the fountain, and Biker Boots has the same aviators as the girl from the club."

Stevie smirks and replies, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

I laugh at her obvious lie, take off the black hat Downtown Cindy gave to me, and place it on Stevie's head saying, "No? Well, it's pretty strange, then, that the hat Downtown Cinderella gave me fits perfectly on your head."

She smiles and responds, "I guess you figured out my identity."

I sigh out of relief, smile, and say, "I'm Zander."

"It's nice to formerly meet you. I'm Stevie."

Downtown Cinderella, Biker Boots, Hazel Eyes, or the Waitress. I'm finally proud to call this girl my friend...possibly my girlfriend in the future.

**Lame little one-shot that wouldn't get out of my head. If you liked it, be sure to review!(:**


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